Press Release - Relaunch of Original Kenya Dolls

The creator of the original Kenya doll, Ruth Golden-Morace of Kidzart, Inc., shared a recent press release and additional information about the relaunch of the doll she first introduced in 1992.  Read the press release below.  Additional information is published separately, the link to which is at the end of this post. 

Contact Emails:
Ruth Golden-Morace, Kidzart, Inc.:   Kidzart@aol.com
Leo Hoffman, VP Marketing and Sales, SmartZone HK:  leohoff@aol.com

Website:
www.kenyaandfriends.com

Facebook ("Like" their page to receive updates):
https://www.facebook.com/kenyaandfriends/

Read more about Kenya and Friends here. 

More About Kenya and Friends

Beautiful Hairstyling Kenya Growing Up Proud is shown in several variations

The Kenya Doll was originally launched in 1992 to provide girls of color with a toy that accurately reflected their appearance, and that could be used to instill self-esteem, along with pride in heritage and community. Kenya became an overnight success in 1992 as the hottest doll for African American girls, selling over 4.8 million dolls. The doll was a cult favorite toy of the decade, capturing every little brown girl's heart, and enjoying strong universal appeal.  [http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/growing-up-proud-just-like-me-175578081.html]

My daughter, who was 15 in 1992, was one of the many little girls who enjoyed playing with Kenya and using the included Proline hair lotion to style the doll's hair.  My daughter's Kenya eventually became part of my doll collection until I was contacted by someone seeking to replace their childhood doll. With my daughter's permission, Kenya was sold and undoubtedly brought happiness to the buyer after the two were reunited.

Like my daughter's doll, having had more than one owner, the original Kenya doll was manufactured by Tyco and later by Uneeda.  New branding took place under Kenya, LLC.  Now she is back in the arms of her original creator, Ruth Golden-Morace, who is a toy inventor/designer. The current manufacturer is Smart-Zone.  Ruth's original concept involved creating a doll every African American girl would love.  Her current key themes for Kenya and Friends are:

"It's time to fall in love again"
"Kenya, the doll for all the right reasons"
"Mommy's best friend is my best friend too"
"Growing up Proud"

Beautiful Hair-Styling Kenya

The 13-inch Kenya dolls retail for $9.99 to $19.99, depending on the doll, hair fiber, fashion, box size, etc.  In addition to the 13-inch all-vinyl Kenya, the new line includes:

• 13-inch Beautiful Hairstyling Kenya's Best Friend Korina 
• 6-inch Tiny Beautiful Hair-Styling Kenya 
• 11-inch Beautiful Hair-Styling Kenya with Tween/Teen body
• 11-inch Beautiful Hair-Styling Kenya's Best Friend Korina with Tween/Teen body
• 11-inch Beautiful Hair-Styling Kenya's Baby Sister Keyara
• Beautiful Hair-Styling Kenya Princess Styling Head
• Beautiful Hair-Styling Korina Princess Styling Head

Kenya's Best Friend, Korina (13-inch version)

Tiny Beautiful Hair-Styling Kenya

Tween Kenya, 11 inches

Tween Korina

Kenya's 11-inch Baby Sister, Keyara

Kenya Styling Head

Korina Styling Head

All Kenya and Keyara dolls are available in three different skin tones, three different hair colors, and three different fashions.  With the exception of the styling head, Korina dolls are available with a choice of two hair colors and two fashion choices.

Where to buy
Kenya and Friends can be purchased from the following retail outlets:

For additional information, please visit their website and like their Facebook page.

Read the Press Release here.

Goldie Wilson's New Doll Style

Super-talented dollmaker, Goldie Wilson

“Goldie Wilson's journey into the doll world began at the age of five when her grandmother, a seamstress, taught her to sew and cut paper patterns for clothes.  ‘A child has to be able to do something useful,’ her grandmother would say.  By the time she was seven, Goldie could embroider, crochet, and tat.  One day all of these endeavors would become very handy in her dollmaking.” (Profile of a Collector, Goldie Wilson, Fall/Winter 2004 The Black Doll-E-Zine.)

Collectors across the United States know the name Goldie Wilson and love her original dolls, which are made using molds she sculpts and dressed in clothing she makes.  Goldie's popularity has led to creating "souvenirs for doll club luncheons as well as UFDC (United Federation of Doll Clubs) luncheons and conventions.  Goldie’s doll art is also featured in several doll books.  She normally works in porcelain and creates oil-painted cloth dolls as well.  A few of Goldie’s 2016 cloth doll Christmas ornaments can be seen in a post on my Black Doll Collecting blog. 

In the past, the majority of Goldie's porcelain dolls were 20+ inches in height.  They are now much smaller with the porcelain dolls ranging from 10-14 inches tall.  The oil-painted cloth dolls are 18 inches.  The following photos illustrate a variety of Goldie’s new, smaller dolls.  Please note that all the dolls in this post have been sold.

The first group of dolls are Adelaide, a 14-inch porcelain doll with her own story that Goldie wrote. Adelaide was made for a UFDC luncheon where the dolls were auctioned and all sold.

        

   

Centerpiece doll (Adelaide) at UFDC luncheon holds her extra dress.

Luncheon doll (another Adelaide) with trunk of clothing made by Goldie

Goldie also makes Bleuette-style dolls with porcelain heads and jointed wooden bodies.

  

This lovely Bleuette by Goldie also has extra clothes.  

Goldie's oil-painted cloth dolls are all one of a kind.  A few examples of these are shown below: 

     

   

Learning to do something useful, as her grandmother advised, has led to a rewarding dollmaking avocation. As evidenced by the dolls in this post, almost as soon as a doll is made by her talented hands, it sells. 

Goldie is currently busy working on convention and luncheon dolls for next year.  If interested in acquiring dolls from her in the future, she may be contacted by email at: goldiewil@msn.com.